


Friendzoned

by Scoby



Series: Reylo metafiction [8]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Romantic Comedy, Bad Flirting, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Kissing, Meta, Relationship Advice, Romantic Comedy, Secret Crush, Smooth Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Wordcount: 1.000-5.000, friend zone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-16
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-17 04:29:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28594014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scoby/pseuds/Scoby
Summary: Kai gets a hint that the best way to flirt with Rachel is to do everything the guy does in her favourite movies: Star Wars sequel trilogy. Kai watches the movies attentively but makes the mistake of not following the example of Kylo Ren but - Finn. That only pushes him further into Rachel's friend zone. Can anyone save him?
Relationships: Ben Solo | Kylo Ren & Han Solo, Finn & Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Series: Reylo metafiction [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2099463
Comments: 1
Kudos: 9





	Friendzoned

Finnick’s apartment is about to rip at its seams from the amount of people and noise inside. Finnick himself is helping himself to another glass of punch, making a mental note that he should mix more of it because the scoop is already scraping the bottom of the bowl. But that will be after finishing this glass. He sits down on the couch next to Kai to work on it.

“Having a good time?” he asks Kai.

“Yeah, sure. And you?”

“Well, it’s my birthday so what else can I have? It’s my guests I need to worry about. Can I get you more punch or something?”

“No, thanks, I’m fine.”

He pauses with the kind of look on his face that tells Finnick that he is still thinking about something in the back of his mind. Finnick raises an eyebrow in an attempt to prompt him to speak.

“Actually, you could tell me something”, Kai finally says.

“Anything.”

“About your friend Rachel.” Kai’s eyes drift to the brunette hovering around the birthday cake and chatting vividly with a small group of people. “Is she single?”

“Yes.” Finnick leans towards him, eyes wide. “Why are you asking?”

“Just… out of interest…”

“Interest? Does it mean you’re _interested_?”

“No no no, or maybe a little, but it doesn’t matter because it would never happen anyway.”

“And why’s that?”

“Well, I’ve seen her now a few times at your parties and she’s always friendly to me but it’s not like she sees me at all _that way_.”

“Oh, hmmm… Have you tried anything?”

“I don’t want to try anything creepy. She seems really nice.”

“Of course I don’t mean creepy. I mean something romantic like…”

“Like what?”

“Well, when I was hitting on Roza, I watched all her favourite romantic comedies and I just did all the stuff the guys did in those, and she freaking _melted_.”

Finnick glances across the room where Roza is standing by the stereos, selecting music. Their eyes meet and they flash each other such loving smiles and air kisses that Kai’s heart jumps when imagining one day sharing something like that with Rachel. Yes, Finnick’s advice is definitely worth listening to.

“Do you know what are Rachel’s favourite romantic comedies?”

“As far as I know, she doesn’t really watch romantic comedies.”

“How about any romantic movie she likes?”

Finnick leans closer to whisper in his ear: “She really likes Star Wars sequel trilogy.”

* * *

Kai uses his Sunday on watching the whole trilogy and taking notes. He is left a little puzzled, though, because he does not find it very romantic. But if this is what appeals to Rachel, then he probably should do everything the guy does to Rey in these movies. Based on the first movie, his notes are clear:

  * Speak in a dramatic voice about an organisation he is part of
  * Try to hold her hand even if she objects
  * Praise when she does something well
  * Hand her tools when she is repairing something
  * Hide with her
  * Invite her to travel with him
  * Rescue and hug her



Based on the second movie, it is a bit difficult to make conclusions because they spend most of the time apart and busy with other things. And the third movie leaves him confused because Rey still does not kiss the guy, only somebody else, clearly out of gratitude because he just saved her life. But they hug and seem happy so maybe that is just how Rachel likes it in the movies - not too sentimental.

So Kai considers his research done and himself ready to start. He digs up Rachel’s phone number that he got from Finnick, takes a deep breath and calls.

“Rachel.” Gosh, her voice is bright and excited, like music.

“Hey, this is Kai, I’m Finnick’s friend, you remember?”

“Yeah, I do, nice to hear from you!”

“There’s something I was thinking, because I’m volunteering for a cat shelter in this area, I mean, for a _cat shelter_.” He lowers his voice to a dramatic whisper just like in The Force Awakens.

“Cat shelter? Wow, I’ve never met anyone volunteering there before.”

“Well, now you have. I’m actually going there next Saturday and I was thinking if you’d like to come along, to see the cats.”

Nothing like that happened exactly in the movies but he finds it pretty smooth in any case.

“Next Saturday… hmmm… Why not? What time?”

“How about we meet there at noon?”

“Ok, see you then, Kai.”

“Good, see you, Rachel.”

* * *

“So here they are.” Kai opens the door to a room full of cats, each in their own compartment, trying desperately to appear like he knows exactly what he is doing even though he has only been here once before.

“So cute!” Rachel scratches a grey and striped cat behind the ear when Kai opens its compartment door to feed it.

“That’s Evo.” He cheats the name from the tag on the door.

After he closes Evo’s door, he gathers up courage and grabs Rachel’s hand to pull her to the next compartment.

“See here, this is Snowball.”

“Yeah, I can see.” Rachel shakes her hand free, opens Snowball’s door and picks up the white, fat cat while Kai adds dry food to its bowl.

Perhaps this is some kind of game that Rachel really likes to play, Kai concludes and takes her hand again to move her to the next compartment. When she shakes it loose again, he suggests:

“Do you want to feed Millie?”

Rachel shrugs and takes the dry food container from him.

“Three scoops in her bowl”, Kai instructs.

Rachel measures three scoops in the bowl and scratches Millie’s neck when she approaches it.

“That was excellent cat feeding!” Kai says when they close Millie’s door. “How did you know how to do that? That was amazing! Do you have a cat of your own?”

Rachel shrugs. “Errr, no, but it wasn’t difficult. You just told me what to do.”

They continue feeding cats, and Kai comes up with new ways to praise her after every successful measuring of three scoops she makes, while still making a point of taking her hand every once in a while. It is a lot of things to remember, but he thinks he is doing a good job. After they are done, Rachel casts him one of her beautiful, friendly smiles.

“That was fun, and the cats are super cute, thanks for bringing me along. I should go now. I still need to repair my bike today. I have to ride tomorrow but my gears are broken.”

“I can help you if you want”, Kai offers smoothly. “I’m very good at handing tools.”

“Oh, sure, if you don’t mind. That could go faster if having some help.”

But as soon as they are in the bike garage of Rachel’s block and she has her bike upside down and several parts detached and is asking for a variety of tools from her toolbox, Kai finds out that it is not always easy to know what she is meaning. Several times she gets frustrated when he keeps holding up the wrong tools. He is already about to worry that she will think about him as a loser, but remembering that she is behaving exactly like Rey in The Force Awakens, this is probably a kind of flirting she likes to do.

A lot later, Rachel finally tests flicking the gears with a content smile. She is packing up her tools when Kai suddenly stops her with a hand on her shoulder.

“Did you hear that? Somebody’s coming. We should hide”, he whispers.

Rachel looks at him blankly for a moment but quickly lights up in a playful smirk.

“Yes, we should!”

She giggles as they make their way behind the bikes and squat down in the back corner, making themselves as invisible as possible.

“Shhh”, Kai hushes when Rachel has trouble controlling her laughter.

She covers her mouth with both hands right before the bike garage door opens. A middle aged man walks in, looks around, shrugs his shoulders at the toolbox on the floor, takes his own bike from the rack and pushes it outside.

“Yeah, he didn’t see us!” Rachel celebrates after the door has closed and they have scrambled out of their hideout.

“Totally didn’t see us!” Kai agrees.

And then, Rachel hugs him, giggling so much that she makes them both shake.

“That was fun. What are you doing next weekend?”

“I’m leaving for Berlin for a work trip.” He knows that he is probably going to come across bold, but Rachel would probably want to see exactly as bold a move as in The Force Awakens. “Come with me!”

“With you? Errr, thanks for asking, but I can’t. It’s quite a short notice and I have work and stuff…”

Rachel would probably want him to insist so he does:

“Rachel, come with me.”

“No, sorry, I really can’t. Maybe another time…”

“Then, take care of yourself.” He strives for drama in his voice as he turns on his heels and walks out of the bike garage.

As soon as the door closes behind him, he acts quickly: he gathers all his strength to lift up a heavy boulder from the yard and slams it down in front of the door. When Rachel tries to push the door open, it does not move. She tries several times with more and more force, eventually something that sounds like her throwing her whole body weight against the door. Kai pushes the boulder back against her and manages to keep the door shut and make Rachel desperate.

“Help! Does anyone hear me? I’m here! The door doesn’t open! Help! Anyone?”

After he has listened to her shouting and banging at the door from inside for a while, he decides the time is right and lifts the boulder away. Rachel almost falls out of the garage with her next push.

“Kai?” She blinks. “You heard me!”

“Yeah, I wasn’t too far yet.”

“Oh, you rescued me!” She snuggles against him into a tight hug. “Thank you so much.”

When she looks up at him, Kai wonders if this is the right moment to kiss her. After all, he has done everything in his notes. But when he slowly leans down towards her, she just grins and pulls away, saying:

“Anyway, nice to see you once more. Maybe we can hang out again after you’re back from Berlin. Have a good trip!”

With a wave of her hand, she disappears inside her block with her toolbox in hand.

* * *

Kai and Hans balance a box of spare roof tiles carefully between them as they make their way across the roof to the leaky spot. Kai keeps eyeing anxiously at his father’s foothold. Last time they were fixing his parents’ roof, Hans fell down and they had to call an ambulance. However, he still keeps insisting that he is not yet too old for this.

This time, they make it to the spot without any accident and place the box on the top of it and sit down on either side. Then, both take out their hammers and start working on changing the damaged tiles.

“So how’s work?” Hans asks.

“It’s fine. I was in Berlin for a conference a few weeks ago. But not much else has happened.”

“And how have you been otherwise?”

“Well, ok, I guess.”

“Tell at least something that has happened. It’s been over a month.”

Kai tries to think about anything he could say about his life, but thinking about the past weeks, all his thoughts seem glued around only one thing.

“I met this girl I really like, a few times actually.”

“Wow, interesting, it’s on the way somewhere then, huh?”

“No, it’s not like that. She’s all nice and friendly and keeps asking me to her place and everything, but it’s not like she sees me _like that_ at all.”

“And have you tried anything to change that?”

“I’ve tried everything!” Kai hits a tile with the hammer so hard that it breaks in two and he has to switch it to a new one.

“Like what?” His father has stopped hammering and leaned in to listen more intently.

“Well, I heard that her favourite romantic movies are Star Wars sequel trilogy, so I did everything that the guy does in those movies. I told her I was volunteering for a cat shelter and I took her there and…”

“What? A cat shelter?” Hans cuts him off. “You never told us you volunteered there.”

“I did go there once before I took her.”

“Once? Listen, son, you got another problem. Women always figure out the truth. Always.”

“Oh, I didn’t think about that…”

“What else did you do then?”

“I took her hand many times and let her know that she was awesome at feeding the cats and helped her repair her bike by handing tools and hid with her when somebody came to the garage and asked her to travel with me and rescued her when she was blocked behind the door and…”

“Wait! So this was all based on…?”

“What the guy did in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, yes.”

“Which guy?”

“Finn. Duh.”

“Well, it’s been a while since I saw those movies, but wasn’t Finn like Rey’s best friend and staying that way until the end of the trilogy? So shouldn’t that be a clue that if you do everything like Finn, this girl will only ever think of you as her friend?”

“Oh…” Kai’s hammer pauses in his hand and he stares into the distance, trying to process everything he might have got wrong. “But if Finn is not the guy, then who…?”

“At least I interpreted the movies so that Rey had something going on with Kylo Ren.”

“The bad guy?”

“Exactly.”

* * *

Next Friday, Rachel has invited Kai to her place to watch a movie, just like she has done a couple of times already. But this time, he is prepared. He used to own no black clothing apart from his funeral suit. But now he has bought a new black sweater with matching jeans and boots, even a black undershirt and boxers, feeling hopeful.

Is it his imagination or does Rachel’s breath hitch a little already when she opens the door for him? If it is real, it passes quickly as she composes her face into her normal smile. Then she turns habitually to lead the way to her couch. But before she can hide her gorgeous ass into her own corner among the fluffy pillows, he stops her in her tracks by saying:

“Rachel, I was wrong about you.” She turns around to face him with a questioning look that terrifies him but also makes it clear that there is no going back. He has to tell her the truth. He takes a step forward so that he towers over her and forces her to look up to see his eyes.

“Anyone could feed cats the way you do”, he says. “There’s nothing special in you. I heard from Finnick that your parents were drunks who abandoned you, and now they’re dead. You have no place in this story. You come from nothing. You're nothing.”

Rachel’s eyes glisten with tears and Kai wonders if he has pushed it too far. But there is no going back now, only forward. So he says, with his whole heart:

“But not to me.”

That shifts Rachel’s whole gaze, turning her eyes full of awe and a tinge of – hunger. Her breathing turns heavier, her lips part and her eyelids flutter almost shut.

“I’m in love with you, Rachel”, he confesses and takes a tentative hold of her neck and gosh, she trembles. He leans in so close that their noses almost touch, and then they touch because she is rising on her tiptoes. Then next thing he knows is that they are so close that their lips meet. And it does not feel like just kissing. It is more like Rachel is devouring him and he strives to catch up and show her just how bottomless his thirst is for her, because he has been starving for this a lot longer so he has more right to…

Rachel pulls away and smiles but it is different now, not just friendly but loving, and eyes twinkling with flirt.

“Do you really volunteer in that cat shelter?” she asks.

“Well, I'd been there once before I took you. How did you figure it out?”

“I saw you reading the cat names from the tags.”

Her fingers play with the neckline of his sweater. Then she spreads her palm over the fabric and slides it down over his chest.

“I like this colour on you”, she whispers. “Just right now, I’d prefer you wearing a bit less of it.”

And she pulls him down to another kiss and slides her hands under his sweater.

**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoyed, feed me with kudos/comments and find me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/IamScoby)


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